Of the 10,000 patent models held in this Museum, some 400 models are housed in and relate to the Graphic Arts Collection. These include models prepared for the printing, type, paper, and bookbinding trades.

The following Introduction is copied directly from Elizabeth M. Harris, Patent Models in the Graphic Arts Collection (Washington, D.C.: The National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 1997). This publication is illustrated with line drawings.

Black and white photographs of many of the 400 plus patent models in the Graphic Arts Collection were taken in the 1960s. We hope the publication of these photographs will also assist the public in better understanding the Collection.

“Until 1880, the U.S. Patent Office required most inventors to submit a model with their application for patent protection. The Patent Office thus became the keeper of a huge collection, one that suffered several catastrophes over the years. In 1836 a fire at Blodgett's Hotel, where the Patent Office was housed, destroyed all existing models—about 10,000 items—as well as the records of some specifications. After the fire new patents, hitherto unnumbered, were numbered in a consecutive series. In 1840 an effort was made to restore models and specifications lost in the fire. Some 2845 were restored (and numbered in a new X... series), but there were gaps that could not be filled and remain blank to this day. In 1887 a second fire started in a loft in the Patent Office where 12,000 rejected models were stored. It spread rapidly, destroying or damaging 114,000 more models out of the total collection of around 200,000. Of these, 27,000 were eventually restored, while 87,000 were lost.

The first patent models now in the Graphic Arts Division came to the Smithsonian in 1908—a group of eleven models transferred by the Patent Office. In 1926 Congress decided to dispose of the remaining Patent Office collection, which then consisted of some 150,000 models. About 10,000 pieces came to the Smithsonian's U.S. National Museum.

The largest single group within that transfer—about 4,000—consisted of models for the textiles industry. More than 300 were for the printing trades. Other printing models have arrived since 1926, singly or in small groups.”

This patent model demonstrates an invention for improvements in the printing press; the invention was granted patent number 4025. The patent details improvements in feed and delivery, in raising the cylinder, and in stopping the bed.

This patent model demonstrates an invention for an improvement on Hoe's rotary printing press; the invention was granted patent number 5199. The patent includes improvements to the inking apparatus, the use of a portion of the type cylinder for ink distribution, and locking type to the cylinder with tapering rules.

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a web-fed cylinder press, printing on both strokes of the bed; the web of paper was fed intermittently to match the printing motion, then rewound on a receiving cylinder at the other end of the machine. The invention was granted patent number 9993.

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a rotary press using tapered type on its type cylinders along with a special curved composing stick; the web of paper was cut and folded at the same machine, after printing. The invention was granted patent number 468.

According to Stephen D. Tucker’s History of R. Hoe & Company, Wilkinson built a press along these lines for the New York Sun in 1842, but never succeeded in printing the paper at it.

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a lever press using a combination of course and fine screws, the first to lower the platen fast, and the second to produce greater power at the end of the pull. It also included inclined ways or tracks, so the bed was raised as it was drawn under the platen. The invention was granted patent number 23951.

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a self-inking bench-top press for cards or sheets; the invention was granted patent number 24655. It was the basis for the Newburys' Mountain Jobber or Machine Jobber. Early models followed the patent closely, but later (about 1871) the press had a sloping ink disk. A. N. Kellogg produced a modification of the press, which he patented in 1863 (Patent 37293).

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a self-inking hand-cranked cylinder press which was intended to replace the common iron lever press. The patent was granted patent number 25008.

George Gordon (1810-1878) started out as an actor but soon took up the printing trade in New York City. From 1851 he was responsible for a succession of jobbing presses--the Yankee, the Turnover, the Firefly, this cylinder press, and, finally, the Franklin jobber with which he established his name as well as his fortune. Degener was a Gordon employee in the 1850s, setting up in his own business in 1860. See also Degener's separate Patent 110018.

This patent model demonstrates an invention for various improvements on the English presses of Applegath, Napier, and others, especially methods of stopping and reversing the press bed in its travel and of raising the impression cylinders to allow the bed to pass underneath. The invention was granted patent number 2629.

This was the patent for Hoe's Pony press, built specifically for the New York Sun to print 5-6,000 impressions per hour. Richard March Hoe (1812-1886) was the son of Robert Hoe, founder of the original company, which he took over in 1833 after his father's death. Among many outstanding inventions, his most famous press was the Lightning of 1846. He was also known for solicitous management of his employees, for whom he set up set up a free but compulsory apprentice school.

This patent model demonstrates an invention for a double bed-and-platen power press with a frisket at each end and is considered an unnumbered patent. The bed was raised by toggles beneath against the fixed platen. This patent provided the basis for the single-ended Adams Power Press, a well-loved iron machine later produced by R. Hoe & Co. In the 1870s it was still considered to produce finer letterpress work than any other machine on the market. It was pre-eminently a book press. Isaac Adams (1803-1883), with no schooling but ample inventive genius, introduced his power press at the age of 25 and derived his living from its success.